Describe how the new stair tool helps to design stair solutions that are safe and easy to navigate and meet all applicable national and local codes.

Explain how the integrated collision detection feature can reveal potential flaws and weaknesses in the design before construction begins.

Explore how BIM automates documentation updates and eliminates potential errors or miscommunications that can occur when the documentation is not kept current.

Provide three examples of how BIM improves the collaboration between architects and the rest of the consulting and engineering team.

Use new presentation tools in BIM software to engage clients.

Credits:

1 AIA LU/HSW

1 IDCEC CEU/HSW

1 AIBD P-CE

0.1 IACET CEU*

AAA 1 Structured Learning Hour

AANB 1 Hour of Core Learning

AAPEI 1 Structured Learning Hour

SAA 1 Hour of Core Learning

MAA 1 Structured Learning Hour

NSAA 1 Hour of Core Learning

OAA 1 Learning Hour

NLAA 1 Hour of Core Learning

NWTAA 1 Structured Learning Hour

This course can be self-reported to the AIBC, as per their CE Guidelines.

This course is approved as a Structured CourseApproved for structured learningThis course is approved as a core courseApproved for Core LearningCourse eligible for OAA Learning HoursThis course is approved as a Core CourseCourse may quality for Learning Hours with NWTAAThis course can be self-reported for Learning Units to the Architectural Institute of British Columbia

Building information modeling (BIM) is an intelligent, digital, model-based process of design, where a building is created using one system of computer models instead of separate sets of drawings. Although BIM is not a new concept or technology, its adoption has skyrocketed over the past decade, and continuous advancements have dramatically improved the productivity, safety, creativity, and collaboration that can be fostered and supported by the BIM-enabled process.

BIM organizes the design process so that a building is created using one system of computer models and data instead of a multitude of separate sets of drawings, improving the information available to the team to coordinate and collaborate throughout the design and construction process.

According to the report titled The Business Value of BIM in North America: Multi-Year Trend Analysis and User Ratings (2007–2012) by McGraw-Hill Construction, industry-wide adoption of BIM throughout the architectural, engineering, and construction community in the United States surged from 28 percent in 2007 to 71 percent in 2012. In the past few years, worldwide use of this technology has continued to grow at an impressive rate. The United Kingdom is currently considered the most enthusiastic BIM adopter, with adoption rates estimated at nearly 80 percent. Many countries are requiring the use of BIM for government-funded projects. In South Korea, the Public Procurement Service requires BIM for all public sector projects of a certain size.

One explanation for this incredible increase in BIM adoption points toward the undeniable benefits that BIM now offers. Before BIM, the design process was rigid, sequential, and fragmented, allowing many opportunities for miscommunications, misinformation, and errors to occur. Architects were required to define the project in 2-D and communicate design intent across many separate drawings instead of consolidating the entire project into a single file driven from a 3-D model. Beyond the improved coordination of a project, it is often touted that BIM dramatically streamlines workflow and makes it easier to engage clients in the design process with improved project visualization capabilities, both in 3-D and virtual reality (VR) technologies.

Anthony Laney, Laney LA, describes the moment he knew his firm would make the investment in a BIM solution. “I was sitting at a conference, and a presenter brought out a giant roll of drawings and said, ‘This is option A.’ Then he held up an iPad and said, ‘This is option B,’ and he started spinning the 3-D model and flipping through plans, and I knew right then that this was where we needed to invest.”